When asked by reporters if Morton will remain in the rotation Russell said, “As of now … yeah,”. “He’s worked really hard and, unfortunately, tonight was a night where nothing really paid off for him, Russell said. “We’ll re-evaluate it and see where we are. It was a step back, and we’ve got to see what we can do to go forward again.”

The Pirates are always quick to point out excuses for Morton. They have continued to indicate that Morton is progressing. Last night the excuse of shoulder fatigue quickly came up.

“He’s (Morton) had some shoulder fatigue, but he’s been fighting through it,” Russell said. “In his last couple of starts, he’s felt a little bit of pain, fatigue. But he seemed to throw the ball pretty firm tonight. It was a good sign. We’ll have to keep evaluating him. You hate for one start to kind of negate the little bit of progress he was making. He was making some — not great.”

The Pirates have reached a situation where Morton the major league’s loss leader is not only hurting the team every fifth day but could also be derailing any hope of having a quality career in the majors.

Morton has a minor league option and doesn’t have to clear waivers to workout his issues in Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates remain hard headed on keeping Morton in the rotation who they regard as having the best stuff on the staff.

Notes

*The Cincinnati Reds are the NL Central leaders and have won 21 of their last 30 games, moving a season-high eight games over .500 at 28-20.

*Neil Walker made his first start at second base. It was not a good night at the plate for Walker who went 0-for-5 with 2 strikeouts. Walker is batting .231 on the season (3-for-13).

*Andy LaRoche returned to the lineup and started at third base. LaRoche was 1-for-4 at the plate and continues to struggle in the field. LaRoche’s throwing error in the second innings was costly and prolonged a 4 run inning. LaRoche has 8 errors on the season.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.